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[WordAssassin]

should be available to purchase in the usual places soon?

Feeling a little put off by Season 4 & 5, (where the fuck has the HORROR part of American HORROR Story gone?) so I wanted to watch a couple episodes before spending any money on AHS again. Otherwise yeah you're right, I could totally do an iTunes Season Pass or something if it turns out to be good.

Edit: So bummed that I can log into Hulu and watch a South Park episode that first aired literally 2 hours ago yet I can't do the same anywhere for AHS ):

 

[EmpressInYellow]

Feeling a little put off by Season 4 & 5, (where the fuck has the HORROR part of American HORROR Story gone?)

I dunno. I feel like AHS has always been more "mishmash of assorted horror tropes" rather than a serious attempt at actual horror. It's always just been too bizarre, with two many disparate and seemingly-incompatible elements thrown in to a single season.

Granted, I LIKE that. It's sort of like horror Mad-Libs.

I will say that this season seems to be playing things a lot straighter so far, though.

 

[Wanderer5]

I might finally jump on the AHS train, as I love the marketing done for this season. I don't have FX through, so my options would probably have to be amazon or google play.

 

[tribal24]

This is some

Spoiler

Resident Evil 7 shit

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I honestly thought that was the best premiere that AHS has ever done. They ditched a lot of the campiness and over indulgence and delivered something genuinely focused, tense, and mysterious. I'm sure things will spiral out of control at some point, especially as they begin to incorporate elements from previous seasons, but for now I'm actually excited for American Horror Story again.

 

[User 479360]

It was one of the better premieres for sure. Probably since Season 1 or 2.

 

[WordAssassin]

I dunno. I feel like AHS has always been more "mishmash of assorted horror tropes" rather than a serious attempt at actual horror. It's always just been too bizarre, with two many disparate and seemingly-incompatible elements thrown in to a single season.

Granted, I LIKE that. It's sort of like horror Mad-Libs.

I will say that this season seems to be playing things a lot straighter so far, though.

I know it's always been a mish mash and a homage to horror but there were absolutely parts of season 1 and 2 that were super super unsettling/scary to me. I know everyone has different tolerances for what they find scary, and Season 3 was a totally different beast that was almost comedic at times, so I thought that Season 4 would go back to the creepy/scary/unsettling stuff of Seasons 1&2. But since they made the freaks the sympathetic good guys (which I mean, is totally understandable since they're humans too) Season 4 felt like a huge missed opportunity to me and the only character even remotely scary was killed off super early. Season 5 wasn't scary at all and just dove unabashedly into gross out gore and over the top sex. So to me, a show called American Horror Story with 5 seasons only has 2 seasons that are actually horror stories.

AHS gets away with a LOT on TV in terms of gore and sex and violence, so I'd like to see it actually become, y'know, scary again. There's a lot of clips in those 26 teasers that could be scary, and as I said before the 50s/60s B-Movie theme could have been legitimately fun too so in that example I'm contradicting myself, but that's just because I've been let down by the horror 3 seasons in a row so if they're not gonna try to be scary anymore I'd at least like them to be creative instead of the stupid sex gore shock value stuff I feel it's turned into.

So yeah that's why I'm not in a hurry to go drop $25 on a season pass to find out if I'm in for something good or if I'll be let down again. ):

 

[EmpressInYellow]

I'm just thrilled they managed to make it through an entire episode without using rape as a plot device this time. That was getting a little tired.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I know it's always been a mish mash and a homage to horror but there were absolutely parts of season 1 and 2 that were super super unsettling/scary to me. I know everyone has different tolerances for what they find scary, and Season 3 was a totally different beast that was almost comedic at times, so I thought that Season 4 would go back to the creepy/scary/unsettling stuff of Seasons 1&2. But since they made the freaks the sympathetic good guys (which I mean, is totally understandable since they're humans too) Season 4 felt like a huge missed opportunity to me and the only character even remotely scary was killed off super early. Season 5 wasn't scary at all and just dove unabashedly into gross out gore and over the top sex. So to me, a show called American Horror Story with 5 seasons only has 2 seasons that are actually horror stories.

AHS gets away with a LOT on TV in terms of gore and sex and violence, so I'd like to see it actually become, y'know, scary again. There's a lot of clips in those 26 teasers that could be scary, and as I said before the 50s/60s B-Movie theme could have been legitimately fun too so in that example I'm contradicting myself, but that's just because I've been let down by the horror 3 seasons in a row so if they're not gonna try to be scary anymore I'd at least like them to be creative instead of the stupid sex gore shock value stuff I feel it's turned into.

So yeah that's why I'm not in a hurry to go drop $25 on a season pass to find out if I'm in for something good or if I'll be let down again. ):

The first episode is definitely the "scariest" the show has been since season 2. They really do seem to be aiming for more of a season 1-2 horror vibe this time around. Of course, that could change...

 

[Lord Frieza]

As a huge fan of horror re-enactment based shows like A Haunting, Paranormal Survivor, etc. I'd love for them to keep up that style the whole season.

 

[takriel]

Pretty generic setting imo.

 

[yamaneko]

So...

AHS seasons

1 nice
2 half very good half blah
3 trash
4 some good things, but trash overall
5 lady gaga acting as lady gaga, but good vibes

6 idk

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Well the marketing and not knowing the theme ahead of time roped me in, so I guess it worked. I haven't watched an entire season since Coven. Watched one episode of Freakshow and dipped out, had zero interest in seeing Hotel. I'm willing to give this season a try to see if they're going in a new direction.

EDIT: Algernon from The Knick is Matt! Okay, that's definitely something in the plus column for this show so far.

Premiere episode was alright. Story isn' really drawing me in too much but I do like the framing device of this being a docu-series about a horror incident. That's a fun realm for them to play in if done correctly.

 

[MrV4ltor]

Teaser for episode 2 is out!
First look at Gaga's character:

Spoiler

 

[Ydelnae]

I went in with super low expectations after how bad season 4 and 5 were but holy shit, I loved it. This might be my favorite season opening of the series.

It was amazing.

Spoiler

Blair Witch meets Resident Evil 4

. I'm surprised it was this good.

 

[Gorger]

It felt weird watching this JUST after finishing American Crime Story lol.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

I honestly could do without the interviews because the actual story feels like it could be legit horror instead of ~spooky themes~ underlying a dumbass plot for the first time since halfway through season 2.

I'll be back for the episode 2. Dammit Ryan Murphy.

 

[Gorger]

I honestly could do without the interviews because the actual story feels like it could be legit horror instead of ~spooky themes~ underlying a dumbass plot for the first time since halfway through season 2.

I'll be back for the episode 2. Dammit Ryan Murphy.

I am afraid it might get very redundant if they keep the interviews throughout the whole season. I hope for a twist or a change of phase in the upcoming episodes.

 

[Don Draper's Hat]

I gave up on series 5 after 2 or 3 episodes. I thought I'd give the new series a chance and I have to say I'm mightily impressed. Cracking opener. Hopefully they can keep it up.

 

[bakerbakes]

So the consensus seems to be fairly positive in here? Going to try to check it out with the gf later tonight.

 

[SargerusBR]

I honestly could do without the interviews because the actual story feels like it could be legit horror instead of ~spooky themes~ underlying a dumbass plot for the first time since halfway through season 2.

I'll be back for the episode 2. Dammit Ryan Murphy.

Interviews just ruins the suspense for me. Now I already know all these characters will stay alive.

 

[Ydelnae]

Interviews just ruins the suspense for me. Now I already know all these characters will stay alive.

In a normal show I would say that the interview gimmick would probably play into a plot twist later on. In a Ryan Murphy show, I'm not that sure.

 

[Calderc]

Good episode. Can't wait to see the excuse they make to have these characters do a big song and dance.

 

[MrV4ltor]

Good episode. Can't wait to see the excuse they make to have these characters do a big song and dance.

There was no dancing or singing in seasons 1,3 and 5 tho
So don't act like it happens every year lmao

 

[BattleMonkey]

Really don't care for the documentary aspect. They could have just done the show straight without the narration parts.

 

[BattleMonkey]

There was no dancing or singing in seasons 1,3 and 5 tho
So don't act like it happens every year lmao

Well, Stevie Nicks did have a musical number in season 3

 

[Monocle]

Good premiere. I'm not sure how I feel about the setting. It looks great in terms of sets and cinematography but I guess I was hoping for something more exotic.

The TV show theme with actors representing real characters, and recounting "their" experiences is a cool twist. I'm definitely up for a season that plays with its own format. It would be cool if everybody dies in a few episodes and the setting is completely switched up, with the same actors playing different characters.

I'm loving Angela Bassett as the ex-cop. Working it as always.

I hope the antagonists are more interesting than inbred creeps or frog people.

I don't know what to make of the Blair Witch imagery with the stick figures. Funny to see that considering this season's proximity to the new movie.

Was Lady Gaga going to be in this season? She should play a bog witch or something. Some sort of monster queen.

Well the marketing and not knowing the theme ahead of time roped me in, so I guess it worked. I haven't watched an entire season since Coven. Watched one episode of Freakshow and dipped out, had zero interest in seeing Hotel. I'm willing to give this season a try to see if they're going in a new direction.

EDIT: Algernon from The Knick is Matt! Okay, that's definitely something in the plus column for this show so far.

Premiere episode was alright. Story isn' really drawing me in too much but I do like the framing device of this being a docu-series about a horror incident. That's a fun realm for them to play in if done correctly.

Hotel is one of the best seasons, easily.

 

[MrV4ltor]

Well, Stevie Nicks did have a musical number in season 3

Well, I deleted Coven from my memory, so that might be accurate.

Was Lady Gaga going to be in this season? She should play a bog witch or something. Some sort of monster queen.

Here's a pic of her character to the left of Kathy Bates:

 

[Calderc]

There was no dancing or singing in seasons 1,3 and 5 tho
So don't act like it happens every year lmao

The fact it happened once, never mind more than once, is unnacceptable.

 

[TheSeks]

Wow, bad timing if they're showing this while Mr. Robot is still on. Sorry, FX.

Did Matt Bomer come back? Does he get nude?

 

[MrV4ltor]

The fact it happened once, never mind more than once, is unnacceptable.

It made sense most of the times they did it tho....
They overdid it in Season 4, but Life on Mars and Bette & Dot's number made sense in the context of the season.

Wow, bad timing if they're showing this while Mr. Robot is still on. Sorry, FX.

Did Matt Bomer come back? Does he get nude?

He's coming back this season, but he wasn't in the first episode.

 

[Monocle]

Well, I deleted Coven from my memory, so that might be accurate.

Looking forward to another thread full of overblown Coven hate. It's shit as long as you keep saying so!

Here's a pic of her character to the left of Kathy Bates:

Ah, thanks. She does have kind of a witchy thing going on. I wonder what her character's going to be.

 

[Baconsaurus Rex]

What's this year's theme?

 

[MrV4ltor]

Looking forward to another thread full of overblown Coven hate. It's shit as long as you keep saying so!

Coven was trash tho. The Fiona/Axeman romance.... thing alone was the single most boring thing the show has ever seen.
I'll stop there tho.

What's this year's theme?

My Roanoke Nightmare

 

[Chittagong]

Season 6?? Do they do like two seasons a year? I dropped out at the latter part of the boring witch season, did the show get better after? S1&2 were superb

 

[TheSeks]

Season 6?? Do they do like two seasons a year? I dropped out at the latter part of the boring witch season, did the show get better after? S1&2 were superb

No? They do split seasons, which is why you think it's 2 per year.

He's coming back this season, but he wasn't in the first episode.

Oh, so he isn't a main liner this year because they knew bait-and-switching with Hotel was dumb. >:| Well, I'm safe to miss this episode and the next episode for Mr. Robot then.

 

[MrV4ltor]

Season 6?? Do they do like two seasons a year? I dropped out at the latter part of the boring witch season, did the show get better after? S1&2 were superb

Season 4 is kinda meh, but it's Jessica Lange's last season, sooo.... watch it, I guess?
I enjoyed Season 5, but the plot was real thin and it was style over substance most of the time. But you'll get to see Lady Gaga's first major acting gig and my favorite character of all seasons is also in that season.

Oh, so he isn't a main liner this year because they knew bait-and-switching with Hotel was dumb. >:| Well, I'm safe to miss this episode and the next episode for Mr. Robot then.

What bait-and-switching in Hotel?

 

[Chittagong]

No? They do split seasons, which is why you think it's 2 per year.

Ah, ok. It has seemed that there is always a new season promoted, that would be why.

Season 4 is kinda meh, but it's Jessica Lange's last season, sooo.... watch it, I guess?
I enjoyed Season 5, but the plot was real thin and it was style over substance most of the time. But you'll get to see Lady Gaga's first major acting gig and my favorite character of all seasons is also in that season.

Thanks. Hmm sounds like it might go on the backlog, not an urgent must watch like Mr Robot S2

 

[Monocle]

Coven was trash tho. The Fiona/Axeman romance.... thing alone was the single most boring thing the show has ever seen.
I'll stop there tho.

It was inconsistent, but generally speaking the characters were a riot, and the setting was awesome. Coven is more than the sum of its parts. It's like a stained glass window that looks way better as a pile of shards on the floor.

Season 4 is kinda meh, but it's Jessica Lange's last season, sooo.... watch it, I guess?
I enjoyed Season 5, but the plot was real thin and it was style over substance most of the time. But you'll get to see Lady Gaga's first major acting gig and my favorite character of all seasons is also in that season.

What bait-and-switching in Hotel?

How can you say that when Season 5 is the first season of AHS to give everyone a meaty backstory that actually ties in to the main plot? Hotel's plot is the most substantial and cohesive in the series. No loose ends or truncated storylines—imagine that!

 

[MrV4ltor]

How can you say that when Season 5 is the first season of AHS to give everyone a meaty backstory that actually ties in to the main plot? Hotel's plot is the most substantial and cohesive in the series. No loose ends or truncated storylines—imagine that!

But what was the actual plot of Hotel tho... think about it for a second.
It just seemed like a random collection of things happening in a Hotel to me.
And the backstory was too much most of the time. Literally half the season is flashbacks.
Some great flashbacks tho, I must admit.

 

[TheSeks]

What bait-and-switching in Hotel?

He's only in like... 4-5 episodes MAX and only for like 10 mins each episode as a mainliner. Hell, what'shisname, forgetting the cross-dresser that was the BEST CHARACTER LAST SESASON had more screen time than him and (s)he was supposed to be a minor character.

They hyped up Bomer and Gaga being together and it was just... wasted. I came into the season for him, and while the season was WAYYYYYY more enjoyable than season 4, it was still massively disappointing.

Plus I'm not sure I can stomach another season of "Ryan Murphy throws shit at the wall and hopes to see what sticks." Hotel almost fixed this, but it had stupid sideplots like the vampire kids that show Murphy can't get rid of that. :/

Ah, ok. It has seemed that there is always a new season promoted, that would be why.

They pump out a season per year, but the season gets split (so it doesn't run from like Sept-March, it goes Sept to like mid-Nov before the holidays hit, and then picks up mid-Feb until mid April) to where you have a 3 month "off" period while they're producing the next season in the mean time to make you think that.

 

[MrV4ltor]

He's only in like... 4-5 episodes MAX and only for like 10 mins each episode as a mainliner. Hell, what'shisname, forgetting the cross-dresser that was the BEST CHARACTER LAST SESASON had more screen time than him and (s)he was supposed to be a minor character.

They hyped up Bomer and Gaga being together and it was just... wasted. I came into the season for him, and while the season was WAYYYYYY more enjoyable than season 4, it was still massively disappointing.

Plus I'm not sure I can stomach another season of "Ryan Murphy throws shit at the wall and hopes to see what sticks." Hotel almost fixed this, but it had stupid sideplots like the vampire kids that show Murphy can't get rid of that. :/

Bomer was in 9/12 of the episodes, so idk what you're talking about.
And Liz Taylor is not a cross-dresser, she's transgender.

 

[TheSeks]

I guess I expected more from the Bomer/Gaga character relationship than what we got.

AHS generally has that problem for me. Interesting character/dynamics that are ultimately wasted.

 

[Monocle]

But what was the actual plot of Hotel tho... think about it for a second.
It just seemed like a random collection of things happening in a Hotel to me.
And the backstory was too much most of the time. Literally half the season is flashbacks.

It's a strictly character oriented season. The plot chronicles the Hotel's past and present as a nexus of peculiar and usually murderous people. It doesn't need to be some grand tale. The frequency of the flashbacks makes perfect sense when you understand that the characters are the plot. The important thing is that the story is engaging and well told, has its own internal logic, and weaves all of its many plot threads together in an understandable way.

This last thing is actually remarkably well done. Almost every major character has some connection to every other. It may be hard to keep track of it all, but I made a point of it because I liked what the season was doing and wanted to appreciate the big picture—the whole web of relationships. I was very impressed.

And by the way, Hotel's style is off the charts. Not just the setting, which is gorgeous, but the incomparable glamor of the Countess and Liz. I was dazzled every moment they were on screen.

I guess I expected more from the Bomer/Gaga character relationship than what we got.

AHS generally has that problem for me. Interesting character/dynamics that are ultimately wasted.

I felt exactly the same way, but ultimately the outcome made sense for their characters and the broad focus of the season.

It wasn't crushingly tragic either, which was nice.

 

[Nemesis_]

Can't believe I dropped the ball for the Season 6 OT but I am glad Ratsky stepped in. Wouldn't want anyone else to.

But yeah, wow, what a premiere. Such a weird tone for this season but one that I think I like. I do find it interesting that Blair Witch, Resident Evil 7 and American Horror Story are all going for this vibe now. It's kind of weirdly coincidental.

But I really liked it. I think this is the closest the series has been to being legitimately frightening since Murder House and Asylum. I like that Sarah Paulson is just normal. Not sure how I feel about her being also played by Lily Rabe. I really hope there's some kind of pay off to that.

I also love how the teams bring back the randomest actors/actresses and make them into major roles each season. I recognised the woman who plays Angela Bassett's character instantly as one of the patients that Ben killed in Season 1. Just so cool that they are committed to bringing people back rather than just casting new people, no matter the role they had previously.

I'm super excited to see Gaga in a new role regardless, she looks a lot more feral this time around. Expecting an Enchantress-esque witch kind of character. I don't think she'll have as big a role as The Countess though, based on her schedule. I mean I don't think I even saw her in the credits?

Based on the credits, we can expect these people to appear:

Kathy Bates - One of the colonists - potentially the head of the group?
Sarah Paulson - Doco Shelby
Cuba Gooding Jr. - Doco Matt
Lily Rabe - Actual Shelby
Andre Holland - Actual Matt
Denis O'Hare - Pigman hunter
Wes Bentley - One of the colonists
Evan Peters - ???
Cheyenne Jackson - ???
Angela Bassett - Lee

That means that Lady Gaga, Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, Leslie Jordan and Jacob Artist will probably be guests I assume?

Apparently Chaz Bono also appeared in this season but I didn't notice him anywhere.

We can assume Evan Peters is playing something feral based on this

And Gaga said the following about hers:

The character I'm playing this year on 'Horror Story', she's quite grounded. That might sound ridiculous once you see who she is, but she's very 'in the earth'

 

[MrV4ltor]

Snip

Chaz Bono was actually in the first episode. He was the hillbilly on the very left when Shelby and Matt were buying the house at the auction.
And that picture of Evan is for another movie, but he did confirm in a recent interview that he dyed his hair ginger for the new AHS role.
Gaga also basically said that her new character is the complete opposite of the Countess and that she won't have as big of a role, because she had an album to finish.

 

[kirblar]

Gaga was being literal, wasn't she.

 

[Toa TAK]

Gaga was being literal, wasn't she.

After that weirdness at the end of the premiere I can only assume that's the case.

 

[More_Badass]

After that weirdness at the end of the premiere I can only assume that's the case.

She's probably some ancient eldritch entity. Remember the earth "breathing"?

 

[Lee Chaolan]

This is some

Spoiler

Resident Evil 7 shit

Was thinking the same thing earlier, ha.

Now if someone starts punching a Boulder...